Numerous unnamed U.S. officials are alluded to in press coverage, but all official U.S. sources (the CIA, the Pentagon) decline comment. Reports are full of red herrings – references to Al Qaeda leaders in Yemen (who were not the targets of these particular attacks, however); mention of past attacks against the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (which the U.S. does not connect with the events of the weekend, however); Barack Obama’s May, 2013, speech on national security (but what relevance could that have to the past weekend’s anonymous strikes?); etc.

Nonetheless, the New York Times account can assert that the strikes hit “militants” linked to Al Qaeda — or rather, “linked to Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen.”

“Ask them!”

The White House referred questions to the government of Yemen, with whom the U.S. has “a strong collaborative relationship” — which is not to say the U.S. government will openly endorse, affirm, or share responsibility for any of the acts the Yemen government claims to have carried out.

What is new is that one government — the Yemeni one — did state affirmatively that they killed people: “55 militants” — “militants whowereplanningto attack civilian and military facilities.”

The U.S. government’s scarecrow act — pointing the finger at the Yemeni government — is completely unconvincing, and the Yemeni government’s statements are completely unsatisfying.

Luckily, a drumbeat is growing in U.S. courts and in the U.S. Congress to force the U.S. Executive branch to come clean on its drone killings.

Related posts

The U.S. has a modus operandi for conducting military strikes while slipping past any genuine public accountability. It’s worth a look at the Tuesday, October 29, 2013, New York Times account of a drone strike in Somalia the previous day: “Pentagon Says Shabab Bomb Specialist Is Killed in Missile Strike in Somalia.” It’s a case study in what’s wrong with the U.S. drone wars.

A September 5, 2013, U.S. drone strike in Pakistan killed six people – including Sangeen Zadran — a “senior militant commander” who was “implicated in a long-running kidnapping drama involving an American soldier.”